32 Funny Cars From The 2010 March Meet

Funny Cars are taking over the world-or so it would seem judging by the crowd at the nearly rained out 52nd March Meet drags at Auto Club Famoso Raceway. It was 2010 but looked like, say, 1973 judging by the fiberglass pounding its way down the track participating in the craze that is Nostalgia Funny Car racing.

It's ironic to say that nostalgia drags are nothing new, but the N/FCs are putting a fresh old face on it and packing the grandstands. The genius of 'em is that, unlike Nostalgia Top Fuel Eliminator (in which the diggers have their privates hanging in the breeze) all the modern safety and speed components are hidden under the flopper bodies, so it just looks right, save the few teams that are sneaking in longer-than-kosher noses, deeper-than-legit side skirts, and modern paint schemes that just harsh the vibe. But most of these guys get it, dressing their plastic in retro paint schemes and vintage names that have us running to grandstands like it was our first 32 Funny Cars show at OCIR when we were 14.

Speaking of which, the '10 March Meet marked the first real 32-car nitro flopper field in way too long. As per nitro scribe Cole Coonce, "Match races and 64 Funny Cars round-robin exhibitions aside, one almost has to go back to when records were kept on stone tablets to find the last race that qualified the 32 quickest bona fide, blown-on-nitro AA/Funny Cars racing in an actual eliminator. Although NHRA qualified 32 Top Fuel dragsters as late as the '80 U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis, they have always contested 16-car fields of fuel Funny Cars.

"In 1972, when drag racing superstar Big Daddy Don Garlits created his short-lived Professional Racers Organization's National Challenge as a direct protest to NHRA's arguably paltry purses at Indy, part of the allure was to field a 32-car eliminator for the three Pro classes (Top Fuel, Funny Car, and Pro Stock). In 1973 at Tulsa, Don Prudhomme outlasted a full field of floppers and won Funny Car Eliminator. In 1974, Garlits' PRO event moved to New York National Speedway and only 21 fuel coupes entered the 32-car show. Because of the light field and a plethora of explosions and crashes, only four rounds of racing were completed-barely. After racing uncontested twice, Prudhomme won the National Challenge again, even though he refused to suit up for a solo pass in what would've been the final round of racing, technically speaking. Either way you slice it, prior to 2010, Don Prudhomme won the last actual 32-car Nitro Funny Car eliminator, be it 1973 or 1974."

And we spotted Snake in the pits this year, too, hanging with his old crony Roland Leong-yet it's not just those retired heroes who are fiddling with N/FC. In action were NHRA name racers Cruz Pedregon, Ron Capps, and Gary Densham racing against the little guys and gals, some of whom are themselves big names in the smaller pond: Mendy Fry, Kris Krabill, Lee Paul Jennings, Mark Sanders, and Leah Pruett-LeDuc among 'em. Pruett-LeDuc had an especially good long weekend (crashes and light rain delayed the finals until Monday), taking down veteran Gary Densham in the final round to become this year's March Meet N/FC champ.

The competition will only get tougher, as backyarders and heroes alike are building more cars. As Densham told us, "These cars can be thrown together with used parts, and they'll run a full season instead of a few passes." His own Teacher's Pet nostalgia car is just a few-years-old Pro car shortened up to make it right with his retro '69 Camaro body. And the longevity of (comparatively) cheap parts comes thanks to the smaller blowers and fuel pumps and points-style magnetos required by the rules-yet these cars still run a full load of pop, making the appropriate thunder for the fans. That fuel mixture also ensures a lot of oildowns from new teams that don't have grizzled tuners on their sides, and the cars still make enough power to get plenty squirrelly, which-let's face it-also makes for a good show, as does the frequency of 250-plus-mph, high-5-second passes.

You need to be there when the Nostalgia Funny Cars come to your town. Meanwhile, we're enticing you here with an old-school-style magazine photo spectacular that includes every one of those 32 Funny Cars, presented in roughly the order they were eliminated in five rounds of competition. We also leaned on DragRacingOnline.com's Advertising Coordinator Darr Hawthorne to give us the notes on each team. Our Best Pass listings indicate times at the March Meet.

Pizza HavenBest pass: 8.06 at 127.29 mph (near crash in qualifying)
This is the same Twig Ziegler Pizza Haven '72 Plymouth Satellite that ran in the heyday of the West Coast Funny car scene. Ziegler hung up his helmet after exhibition runs at the 50th Winternationals, so the driver is journeyman Alcohol Funny Car pilot Don Hudson. In his first official outing with the car, Hudson proved his worth by avoiding what might have been a catastrophe in qualifying when the car made a hard move to the left toward Todd Losenko's Camaro. The two floppers barely touched in the left lane and both motored on down the track.

Lil Nate
Best pass: 13.168 at 60.55 mph (broke)
These guys were early players in the Nostalgia Funny Car movement. Back in 1997, Nathan Bugg and his father, Bugsy, debuted their first Funny Car, which then competed in the Nostalgia Eliminator 1 class. The team's newest car is a classic Monza body painted by Estrus Racing as a tribute to Al Hofmann, a longtime big-show racer who was also sponsored by SoCal's Blower Drive Service. Lil Nate drives the car and is backed by an international crew led by Ray Gandy and recently augmented with the infusion of Aussie Vic Wood. These guys took the trophy at the '08 Las Vegas Speed Spectacular with their old Barracuda, which was included in the current release of Hot Wheels Drag Strip Demons. The Monza had troubles at the March Meet, breaking in qualifying.

4/35

Secret Weapon
Best pass: 9.615 at 98.54 mph
This '77 Chevy Corvette out of Rohnert Park, California, belongs to Brad Faria, who made his debut at the 52nd March Meet. The body is similar to the English Leather car Tom "Mongoose" McEwen used to win the U.S. Nationals in 1978, but the name recalls the Jeep Funny Car raced by Ed Lenarth and Roger Wolford in 1966. It has less than a handful of runs on it and broke in the first round.

5/35

The Joker
Best pass: 9.265 at 149.52 mph
Jack Wright from Oakhurst, California, owns and drives this stretched '70 Dodge Challenger that has been on the scene for a few years. Wright has used the Joker moniker on his racers since the early '90s when he ran nitro drag boats. The car has begun to knock on the 5-second zone but did not fare well at the March Meet.

6/35

Nitro Kitty
Best pass: 9.078 at 95.84 mph (broke)
This car is a mix of Funny Car history. The chassis is an early '90s Murf McKinney setup that Roland Leong ran as a Hawaiian Vacation flopper. The body was campaigned by Gene Snow as a Snowman Dodge Charger. It has also been known as Future Flash and has been driven by a number of shoes, including Ron Capps, Kris Krabill, and now the Nitro Kitty herself, Mendy Fry. The owner is Chino Hills, California's Gary Messenger, and the tuner is Donnie Couch of West Coast Funny Car Factory. A split block ended the day at the March Meet.

7/35

War Horse
Best pass: 6.67 at 207.46 mph
Rapid Roger Garten drove the Tocco-Harper-Garten '23 T Fuel Altered in the old days and again in the nostalgia comeback. Now Roger has built a replica of another part of his history, his Tocco & Garten War Horse Mustang that was an integral part of the Southern California Funny Car wars of the mid-'70s. This new incarnation is sitting on an original Steve Plueger chassis with a Mike Kuhl-supercharged Keith Black engine (the original car had a Donovan 417 based on an early Hemi). The beautiful Kenny Youngblood paintjob is a very faithful reproduction of the original car, one of the neatest things about the nostalgia scene.

8/35

Holy Toledo
Best pass: 6.484 at 221.29 mph
Here's a direct connection to one of the oddest Funny Cars of the '60s. Ed Lenarth ran topless Jeeps all over the West, including the Holy Toledo '68 Jeepster Commando with dealer Brian Chuchua. After retiring from the asphalt quarter-mile, he moved the Holy Toledo to the sand and mud drags, and today, the original car has been restored. A second, more modern version (seen here) debuted in 2007 and has been driven by Jeff Diehl and Leah Pruett-LeDuc. At the '10 March Meet, the shoe was Sean Dale, who has parked his family's Shakey Situation Dodge Charger to drive the Jeepster for the remainder of the season.

9/35

Pure Heaven IV
Best pass: 6.517 at 209.01 mph
Jeff and son Chris Bennett from North Las Vegas, Nevada, campaign this '69 Camaro along with legendary tuner Leon Fitzgerald, who raced the long line of ill-handling Pure Heaven Fuel Altereds for years. Jeff raced the No Mercy Fuel Altered through the '80s and '90s and has run a best of 6.110 at 229.53 in the Camaro. When Chris is on break from his duties with the Air Force, he usually drives the same chassis, but in Bantam Fuel Altered trim. At the March Meet, Chris was driving the Bomb Squad car.

10/35

Blair's Speed Shop
Best pass: 6.480 at 171.95 mph
R.J. Trotter raced nitro cars all over the country under his Top Fuel Inc. moniker, and now this budget-minded racer has put together an ever-improving combination with period-correct driver Jim Adolph (known for the Shady Glenn Funny Cars and as the two-time publisher of Car Craft magazine). The red Camaro was built by Grant Downing on an ex-big-show chassis out of Del Worsham's SoCal shop. The nitro-tuning brain trust for the March Meet included Allan Gilles and ex-Prudhomme crew chief Bob Brandt.

11/35

Brian Thiel
Best pass: 6.418 at 223.88 mph
Brian Thiel is a Pleasant Grove, California, rice farmer by trade, but he can often be seen racing Top Alcohol Funny Car in Divisions 6 and 7 of the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series. He's new to Nostalgia Funny Car racing and at the March Meet received some help from Donnie Couch of the West Coast Funny Car Factory. Unfortunately, Thiel went out in the first round of eliminations, a victim of Ron Capps' record-setting 5.675-second elapsed time.

12/35

The Pedaler
Best pass: 6.348 at 200.62 mph
Gary Turner founded the hugely successful GT Bicycles in 1979, then turned to NHRA drag racing in the early '80s and to off-road racing in the late '90s. He was a winner in both venues and has been equally successful in Nostalgia Funny Car since 2006. His crew chief is NHRA and IHRA big show driver Cory Lee, and his driver is Kris Krabill. Together, they have established an enviable record over the years with wins at 14 events. In 10 recent final round appearances, they had seven event wins, including Sacramento's Funny Car Fever. The team is the only one to claim back-to-back Boise Nightfire Nationals titles; only John Force has more wins at Boise, with three. Even though they went out in the first round at the March Meet, The Pedaler's best ever run of 5.82 at 248.00 mph will keep this team in the hunt. A new Mustang will soon replace the well-worn Plymouth Arrow.

13/35

Quarter Pounder
Best pass: 6.284 at 225.62 mph
Dale Van Gundy from Anaheim, California, races the Quarter Pounder '70 Dodge Nitro Challenger and is from a long line of Van Gundy and Clark Top Alcohol Funny Cars running in NHRA Division 7 competition. Dale's 6.284 at the March Meet is starting to show that a small, 413ci Brad Anderson Engineering engine combination can steadily improve.

14/35

McCain's Bomb Squad
Best pass: 6.153 at 229.70 mph
Atascadero, California's Mike McCain is an engine builder for race and show and along with his crew of former Sprint Car racers has become a player in West Coast Funny Car racing. With initial help from nitro veterans Donnie Couch and Roland Leong, and with Mendy fry in the seat, these guys ran a best elapsed time of 5.949 at 241.95 mph at the '09 Sacramento Raceway Funny Car Fever event. This year, '08 Nostalgia Top Fuel champion Troy Green is slated to pilot McCain's Bomb Squad, but Chris Bennett shoed at the March Meet.

15/35

Joe Walla Band
Best pass: 6.094 at 220.48 mph
Southern Californian Dan Horan Jr. is a second-generation nitro driver; his dad, Dan Sr., just debuted his latest front-engine dragster at the March Meet. Horan Jr. is one of the originators of the Nostalgia Funny Car class, having campaigned this '66 Ford Mustang for years (along with veteran Dale Pulde until 2004). Horan's new sponsor is the Joe Walla Band, repeating a long-established Funny Car tradition of rock 'n' roll and drag racing. The Joe Walla Band will be playing at most of the NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Series events and has revitalized Horan Jr.'s effort with a brand-new look to his Mustang and the addition of noted nitro crew chief Ronnie Swearingen and clutch specialist Bob Otto.

16/35

Nitro Thunder
Best pass: 6.048 at 240.12 mph
The Harris family is well known in nostalgia drag racing, having set and reset track records all over the west in its Nitro Thunder Top Fuel Dragster from Kaysville, Utah. These days, father Jack "Nitro Sheriff" Harris, drives the '77 Pontiac Firebird and son, Brett, drives the dragster, but at this March Meet, the Utah Posse concentrated on the flopper with one of the two Rodeck 392-based engines in the class. This thundering Funny Car has yet to find its way, but there is no doubt about the Posse's abilities: As a Top Fuel team, it is a member of the 5.50 and 5.60 Clubs and had the first front-motored nostalgia dragster to run more than 260 mph.

17/35

Sandman Special
Best pass: 6.023 at 235.17 mph
Claude LaVoie from Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada, has been working on the completion of this classic '72 Plymouth Satellite GTX for a couple of years while also campaigning an A/Fuel nostalgia dragster with his wife, Lisa. At the '09 California Hot Rod Reunion, it ran a stout 5.94 at more than 233 mph on only its fourth pass. Like the Utah Posse, LaVoie utilizes a Rodeck-based early Chrysler rather than the conventional 426-style Hemi used by most of the field. The team is reportedly in the process of moving to Northern California to be closer to the Funny Car hot spots.

18/35

Joe Pisano
Tribute
Best pass: 6.216 at 209.69 mph
With the blessing of Venolia Pistons' Frank Pisano, two-time NHRA Funny Car champion Cruz Pedregon tributed his longtime friend, the late Joe Pisano, with a new Nostalgia Funny Car. Donnie Couch and his West Coast Funny Car Factory put the finishing touches on this '78 Plymouth Arrow-bodied car in record time, and it debuted in October at the '09 California Hot Rod Reunion, where Cruz bumped his way into a tough eight-car field with a solid 5.964 at 247.72 mph on the car's second pass. He did not do as well at the March Meet, besting a 6.216 and going out in the second round. When Cruz is unavailable this season, '08 Nostalgia Funny Car champion and multitime Alcohol Funny Car champ Bucky Austin will drive and tune the flopper.

19/35

Jolly Rogers Camaro
Best pass: 6.140 at 237.02 mph
Canadian Todd Losenko is an avid racer and has a shop in the Phoenix area headed by crew chief Jon Wurtz. The team is also building a new rear-engined spec dragster based on the early '70s design with a short rear wing and the basic Lenco two-speed Nostalgia Funny Car drivetrain. Losenko's sleek, yellow, Brad Anderson-powered Camaro has been gaining consistency and ran a 6.13 elapsed time at 237 mph in Vegas preseason testing. At the 52nd March Meet, he went out in the second round.

20/35

Mr. Explosive
Best pass: 6.121 at 238.79 mph
With a personality that is part John Force and part Hulk Hogan, Mark Sanders is Mr. Explosive. His son, 20-year-old nitro crew chief Jake Sanders, has tuned the '70 Nova to a best of 5.88 at more than 244 mph. This team from Maple Valley, Washington, made 56 quarter-mile runs in 2009, significantly more than any other N/FC on the scene.

21/35

High Voltage
Best pass: 6.104 at 228.25 mph
The former Top Fuel Hydro racer Dwayne Patton is moving onto land and has been putting together this '69 Camaro-bodied car for a couple of years. He has an Amos Satterlee-built Chrysler Hemi motor tuned by Del Fowler, and veteran Jeff Gaynor helped get a baseline going at last year's California Hot Rod Reunion. Patton, who hails from Visalia, California, qualified well at the March Meet with a healthy 6.177 and improved to a 6.104 in round one of eliminations, going out to eventual runner-up Gary Densham in the second round.

22/35

Candies & Hughes
Best pass: 6.033 at 239.48 mph
Jim Broome out of Arizona runs this '71 'Cuda in tribute to the famed Candies & Hughes cars of the early '70s. Driver Mike Savage has gone rounds at just about every nostalgia event over the past five years but went red in the second round at this show. The C&H flopper has run 5.89 at 244 under young crew chief Drew Wentz, who won the Hedman Hedders Hard Charger of the Event prize at the California Hot Rod Reunion last fall.

23/35

Mike Burkhart
Best pass: 5.902 at 249.23 mph
Texan John Hale has been on a tear lately and had the number four qualifying charge (5.902/249.23) at the March Meet. However, with a lousy reaction time, he gave the win to Ed Dougan in round two. The '69 Camaro is a tribute to Big Mike Burkhart (though the paint scheme is nothing like Burkhart's '69 car), a Texas racer of the '60s and '70s who started in Super Stock, worked his way to altered-wheelbase cars, and then ran a string of Chevy Funny Cars sponsored by Doran Chevrolet in match-race and AHRA competition.

24/35

Troy Lee Designs
Best pass: 5.826 at 240.70 mph
You may have seen driver and co-owner Tim Boychuk driving a Funny Car at numerous IHRA events. He teamed with fellow Canadian Ron Hodgson and rolled out this sleek '77 Pontiac Firebird with a big-cubic-inch Alan Johnson aluminum Hemi. This is the closest to a semiprofessional team out there with legendary crew chief Roland Leong. Boychuk qualified third at the March Meet with a 5.881 but went out in the second round to event winner Leah Pruett-LeDuc; he ran 5.826 to Pruett-LeDuc's ever-improving 5.732.

25/35

L.A. Hooker
Best pass: 5.675 at 247.79 mph
This Funny Car has set numerous e.t. and mph records during recent years driven by veteran Bucky Austin under the Northwest Hitter moniker. For the March Meet and beyond, the '77 Plymouth Arrow has become a tribute to the Condit Bros.' famed L.A. Hooker line of cars (though the original Arrow was run under the Condit Bros. name, as it was built during an intermission with L.A. Hooker partner Gene Beaver). The car is now driven by Don Schumacher Racing professional Funny Car pilot Ron Capps, and it's owned and tuned by Steve Plueger. At the '10 March Meet, Capps drove the beast to the number one qualifier position with a 5.703/246.71-mph charge. Then he went on to set the new e.t. mark for the NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Series with a stunning 5.675 in the first round of eliminations.

26/35

Burn-N-Money
Best pass: 6.256 at 212.26 mph
Bob Godfrey and his former partner Wes Close had what was arguably the second Nostalgia Funny Car on the scene-after the Lil Nate-with their '63 split-window Corvette. Godfrey's orange '69 Camaro is run on a very tight budget, but he'll usually go rounds with consistency. He's a strong driver with a solid right foot and can drive out of a starting line wheelstand carrying the front wheels past the 200-foot mark and set it down with ease. Godfrey's 7.02 qualifying number at the 52nd March Meet was way off pace, but he made it to the third round.

27/35

Fighting Irish
Best pass: 6.05 at 239.42 mph
Journeyman driver Ed Dougan has proven that Charlie O'Neill's '74 Camaro can step up to solid 5.80s to get into an N/FC field, as it did at the '09 March Meet with a fine 5.897 elapsed time at 240.77 mph. This bunch from Brea, California, also took home the trophy at last year's Dragfest at Famoso Raceway, but they fell to eventual runner-up Gary Densham in the third round at the March Meet. The car is a tribute to Tim and Dave Beebe's '71 AA/FC.

28/35

Man O' War
Best pass: 5.849 at 253.02 mph
This sleek, Mike Spitzer-built '79 Mustang has three-time IHRA Top Fuel Champ Paul Romine as owner/driver. First-class components and a veteran crew headed by Mike Cavalieri added up to the fastest pass in Nostalgia Funny Car history at the March Meet: 253.02 mph. Note the rear wheels off the ground and the parts falling off of the body ahead of the blower.

29/35

Blue Max
Best pass: 6.093 at 233.28 mph
The beautiful tribute to Harry Schmidt's Blue Max Mustang was designed by Kenny Youngblood (though the original car was a '70 and this is a '69). Owner/driver Josh Crawford has had a good handle on this stout Funny Car from the beginning, as he's repeatedly run 5.80s with veteran Bob Brooks tuning. In the second round of the March Meet eliminations, Oakdale, California's Crawford knocked off the number one qualifier Ron Capps and went on to elimination in the semifinals, but a fuel leak prevented him from meeting runner-up Gary Densham during the Monday morning finals.

Nitro 'Stang
Best pass: 5.929 at 244.89 mph
The hard-charging chassis under that new '72 Mustang body used to carry the only '69 Dodge Charger Daytona wing car on the nostalgia circuit. Mike Halstead drives and Jeff Gaynor tunes, and the low-buck pair pulls off miracles with used parts when least expected. Halstead ran a best of 5.929 at 244.89 mph at the March Meet, going to the third round before parts attrition knocked him out.

32/35

Code Red
Best pass: 5.789 at 211.96
This potent Camaro Funny Car is driven by Lee Paul Jennings who, along with his wife, Lisa, promotes the annual Funny Car Fever race at Sacramento raceway. Lee Paul's dad, Northern California trucking magnate Lee Jennings, has tuned and driven just about every engine combination, and together they first ran the Code Red Dodge Challenger and now the Code Red II Camaro. It was their engine and tune-up that made Leah Pruett-LeDuc the first N/FC driver above 250 mph in June, 2009, under her '69 Mustang Heart-Breaker body. The Code Red II chassis is the same one that veteran Jack Beckman crashed last year at Sacramento's Funny Car Fever, thereby making that engine available to Leah. At the '10 March Meet, Lee Paul cracked the magic 250 mark with a 5.856 at 251.53 mph and in the next round dropped the chutes early with an amazingly quicker 5.789 at a paltry 211.96.

33/35

Teacher's Pet
Best pass: 5.897 at 240.44 mph
It's unlikely that you haven't heard of former Cerritos Auto Shop teacher Gary Densham, one of the match racing pioneers who spent a few years with John Force Racing and still competes on the NHRA Full Throttle Series. Last year this SoCal veteran debuted his 500ci, Brad Anderson-motored, '69 Camaro-bodied Funny Car that's painted just like his original '74 Dodge Challenger. He then shipped the car to Australia over the winter for match racing, just as he had done when HOT ROD's Ray Brock set him up on an Aussie tour in the mid-'70s where Densh met John Force. According to Densham, son Steven will ultimately drive the vintage flopper, but he may have to pry the steering wheel from Dad's hands, as solid 5.80s and 5.90s got him a runner-up finish to Leah Pruett-LeDuc at this March Meet.

34/35

Plueger & Gyger
Best pass: 5.732 at 243.50
This is the team car to the one Ron Capps drove. It's a faithful replica of the legendary Plueger & Gyger Mustang that beat the crap out of the West Coast Funny Car competition back in the '70s. Steve Plueger owns and Paul Trabue tunes this car, and together they won multiple events in 2009 with driver Garret Bateman in the seat. Plueger's tune-by-experience method has smoked the competition repeatedly without a data recorder or onboard computer. This year Leah Pruett-LeDuc, who was the first N/FC driver above the 250-mph mark, clearly has the synergy with this eclectic crew. The Plueger & Gyger and L.A. Hooker are rides for rent and, comparatively, two of the best values in drag racing considering that Capps was low qualifier and set the mph record in the Hooker and that Pruett-LeDuc won the event overall while also running the second quickest e.t. of the meet. That's a good weekend!